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The Beer Hall Putsch

Whats a beer hall ?


In the early 20th century : places where people were able to gather during the evenings
and drink beer. Also a place where political rallies could be held.
Background :

On 26 September 1923, following a period of turmoil and political violence, Bavarian


Prime Minister Eugen von Knilling declared a state of emergency and appointed
Gustav van Kahr Staatskomissar (state commissioner) with dictatorial governing
powers.
One of van Kahrs first decisions : to ban meetings of Adolf Hitler, the leader of the
Nazi Party. Indeed, van Kahr had his own plan to install a nationalist dictatorship
without Hitler.
In the evening of November, 9th 1923 : about 600 SA (paramilitary wing of the Nazi
Party -> Sturmabteilung : Abteilung : department; strmen : to assault, to make a
run on) surrounded the Brgerbrukeller -> beer hall where van Kahr was
making a speach in front of 3000 people. Machine gun set up in the auditorium.
Hitler fired a shot in the ceiling and yelled that the Bavarian governement was
deposed and declared the formation of an new government. Hitler asked van Kahr
to support the putsch but he denied.
The night was marked by confusion and, in the morning, Hitler realised the putsch
was going nowhere. He was injured by a shot.
Two days later, Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason in a special
Peoples Court. The Nazi party headquarters were raided and its newspaper was
banned.

At this point of the story, you can think Nazis lost and this is the end. But its just the
beginning of the way to the horror of WW II.
Hitler used his trial to spread his ideas and the judges were impressed. He was
sentenced to 5 years in prison with the possibility to be released after 6 months.
In fact, Hitler served only 8 months and used this time to write his book Mein
Kampf.
The putsch made Hitler change his strategy : he then decided to act legally to
obtain the power, with the consequences that we all know.

The rise of fascism in Italy


What is fascism ?
Form of radical authoritarian nationalism.
Many defintions of fascism.
Stanley George Payne, historian at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, describes
fascism with its goals :
-> Creation of a new nationalist authoritarian state not based on traditionnal
principles or models
-> Positive evaluation and use of (or willingness to use) violence and war
-> The goal of empire, expansion, or a radical change in the nations relationship
with other powers
Fascism is a mix of Antiliberalism, Anticommunism and Anticonversatism
At the end of the 1910s, fascists in Italy began a campaign to accomodate
conservatives. They accepted alterations in their political agenda (ex: Though their
initial anticlericalism and republicanism, they accepted the Roman Catholic Church
and the monarchy as institutions in Italy). This campaign was very successful.
Indeed, before this movement, the fascist party was a small organisation with only

thousand members. In 1921, after the accomodation, there were about 250 000
members.
On October, 24th 1922 -> annual congress of the fascist party. Mussolini, leader of
the party, ordered the black shirts (paramilitary wing) to take control of public
buildings and roads around Rome. This event is called March on Rome. King
Victor Emmanuel III was worried and decided to appoint Mussolini as Prime
Minister of Italy.
Mussolini had first to form a coalition government. But the Italian Parliament
passed the Acerbo Law, which purpose was to give the fascist party a majority of
deputies.
Through intimidation and this law, the fascists won the 1924 election. On January,
3rd 1925, Mussolini proclaimed himself dictator of Italy and announced the
dismissal of parliament.
From 1925 to 1929 : fascists secured their power ( ex : censorship).

Music
I want to introduce you a music style which was very popular and successful during
the 20ies.
Operetta :
Operetta is a music style mixing comedy, singing and dance.
Very popular during the second half of the XIXth century but almost disppears with
the begin of the XXth and with WW I.
Reborn of this style after the Armistice with the componist Henri Christin. Christin
was conductor at the Concert europen, a music hall located Place Clichy in
Paris.
Its operetta Phi-Phi (created in 1918), about the love stories of sculptor Phidias, was
very sucessful, running for three years without interruption at the Bouffes-Parisiens.
There were a lot of imitators such as Le petit Phi-Phi (march 1922) or Les amants
de Phi-Phi (march 1923). Phi-Phi was the first piece to use the latest rythms of jazz
(one-step, fox trot). It was translated into English and the english version had also a
great success.
An other operetta of Christin, Dd, followed Phi-Phi in 1921 at the BouffesParisiens. However, it didnt manage to have the same success as its forerunner.
An other componist, Maurice Yvain couldnt stay away of this new phenomene. Its
operetta L Haut followed Dd at the Bouffes-Parisiens. Its an operetta with a
funny text and american influences. L Haut refers to the paradise. In this short
extract, the main character is asking St Peter if the life conditions in the paradise
are similar to those in the real life.

These new operettas are played by less than ten people and a handful of musicians
(sometimes just a piano). For this reason, they could be played in small theatres.

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